Smoke and Mirrors: A Legend of SAO
by spazmanazz
Summary: The Japanese weren’t the only ones who entered SAO. A group of five American children fell into this rose-tinted death trap as well, and their story will be one of the legends of it.
1. Prologue

"Ryan, hurry up! We can't wait for much longer!."

The boy sat on his bed gazing down at his unused NerveGear. This was it. This was the most exciting moment of his life; his first full VR dive. As an American, it was entirely through convenient circumstance that he held this technological marvel. His ice-blue eyes glistened with anticipation and let the excitement sink in for just a few more moments before calling out to his friends in the living room, "Okay, I'm ready! You guys can log in at will!"

As Ryan prepared himself for the dive, his companions did the same. The four of them were set on four couches positioned in a kind of cornerless square. They each equipped their respective NerveGear headsets and laid themselves out on their backs. Before they dove, each of them met the eyes of the other three and gave each other reassuring nods.

"Link, START!" the four commanded in unison.

Lying on his back now with NerveGear in place, Ryan smirked to himself. He looked around his room one last time and returned his eyes to rest gazing at the ceiling. Shutting off his globes from the world, he took one last deep breath before uttering those two fateful words.

"Link START!"

 **Author's Note: Yeah, this is my parallel project. It's a story I've had swimming around in my head for months and I felt that I needed to write it or it would drive me insane.**

 **Disclaimer: I will most likely not be using any of the characters from the anime. The only way that they'll show up is through reference to their actions by word of mouth. Unless I feel it necessary, they will not interact with my OC's.**


	2. Chapter 1

A rush of colors. A flash of light. A city.

Ryan stood unmoving in the shadow of a towering obelisk, seemingly piercing the sky from where he stood. Observing his surroundings, the boy observed people rushing in and out of masses, doing the same thing Ryan was: taking it all in. Even with all the people he saw, the plaza in which they inhabited still seemed to be relatively barren. A beautiful sunset could be seen just over the city's borders, a calming amber color dominating the sky.

A bell tolled.

The sky suddenly and quickly began to morph into a crimson grid of stretched hexagons. Hundreds of players materialized in the plaza in flashes of bright blue light, and the plaza became claustrophobic in an instant. Every one of them, without fail, searched around in confusion trying to make sense of their sudden displacement.

A very reverberant flow of liquid pulled Ryan's eyes towards the sky. What seemed to be blood flowed out of the grid into a shape that was reminiscent of intersecting hammocks forming a sort of cradle in the air. The blood then began to take form, rising up and up and up until it almost touched the crimson dome. It had morphed into a titanic maroon-robed figure with golden embroidery at the robe's hem and at the edge of the hood that rested upon it's nonexistent head.

"Attention, players," it spoke. "Welcome to my world."

"What the hell? What's that supposed to mean?" Ryan inquired to no one.

"My name is Akihiko Kayaba. I am currently the one and only person who can control this world."

"You're still not making sense, buddy."

"I'm sure you've all already noticed the logout button on the main menu has been removed. However, this by no means a mistake. I repeat; it is not a mistake, but a feature of the true Sword Art Online."

Ryan's eyes widened in shock, "No way…"

"You are all unable to log out of SAO, and nobody in the real world can remove the NerveGear or interrupt it's operation. Should it be attempted, a powerful burst of microwave radiation emitted from a transmitter in the NerveGear will destroy your brain, thus, ending your life."

"You've got to be kidding… there's no way… that's…"

"Unfortunately, it's certainly possible that a player's family or friends would ignore this warning, and attempt to forcibly remove the NerveGear. As proof of this, two hundred and thirteen players have retired from both this world and the real one."

"That many? Already? Jesus Christ…"

Holographic screens began to materialize and orbit around Kayaba's avatar, "As you can see, news of my warning and the numerous victims are being spread worldwide. Thus, it should be safe to say that the danger of removal has become minimal. I hope you will be at ease and focus on completing the game. But I'd like you all to keep this in mind; from this point on, all methods of revival in this game will no longer function. If your HP hits zero, your avatar will perish and at that moment the NerveGear will destroy your brain."

Ryan immediately thought about his friends, the ones who had come in here with him. The ones he brought to enjoy this world with him. The ones he trapped in here. He slowly closed his eyes and dropped his head in regret, "This is all my fault…"

"There is only one condition you must meet to be free," Ryan's eyes shot open and he rose his head to stare lasers into Kayaba's headless apparition, "the completion of this game. You are all currently on the first floor, the lowest point in Aincrad. If you conquer a floor's dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss, you may continue up to the next one. Assuming you manage to defeat the final boss on the one hundredth floor, the game will be considered cleared."

"Kayaba, you bastard! That's damn near impossible!" Ryan's eyes changed from hateful to understanding, "And you know it."

"And lastly, I've prepared a present for all of you in your item storages. Take a look."

"This better not be another one of your tricks, Kayaba. You're already on my shit list."

The boy opened his inventory and searched through it, easily finding his 'present' in his item-lacking bags. After a few more button presses it materialized in his hand.

"A mirror? Why would he…?"

At that moment, a blinding light enveloped him. After it disappeared, he saw the same light dissipating off of many others in the plaza. He didn't memorize the appearance of everyone, but he did notice that some of the people standing next to him changed entirely. Some of them went from thin to obese. Some, from male to female and vice versa. He then took note of his own appearance; he was himself. In the mirror, he saw his own face, his long, slick, fiery orange hair fell down over his left eye covering half of his unnaturally feminine features, and he felt the rest of it settle at the small of his back.

Ryan's face displayed complete and utter dumbfoundedness, "What the hell?! How is this even possible?!"

Two men that stood near to Ryan were discussing the very answer that he was looking for. One was roughly Ryan's height with black hair. The other was somewhat taller, and had a crimson bandanna and salmon hair. The black-haired one spoke first, "The scan… The NerveGear covers your head with a high-density transmitter, so it can calculate what your face looks like. But our height and body…"

The one equipped with the bandanna found the next answer, "When we first put on the NerveGear, it made us touch all over our body for 'calibration,' remember?"

After extending his hearing like that, Ryan retreated back into his own space, "Really? _That's_ how they did it? That's nuts!"

Kayaba's titanic form spoke again, "Right now, you're probably all wondering, 'Why? Why would I, Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do such a thing?' I have already achieved my goal. I created the world of Sword Art Online solely for my personal enjoyment."

"You monster…"

"And now, the preparations are complete. This concludes the tutorial for the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck…"

The robed figure began to dissipate into a maroon-red smoke highlighted by a glitch effect all over its body. The smoke retreated into the lines of the hexagonal tiled dome before the dome itself disappeared, revealing the amber sky. There was absolute silence for what seemed an eternity before Ryan heard the shattering of a mirror and a girl screaming in despair. After that, it was absolute chaos. Literally thousands of voices shouting in terror, anger, and every other negative emotion known to man.

 _Dammit, there's no way I'm going to find them in all of this. Only thing I can do now is get a head start before things settle down and hope they do the same._

Ryan forced his way out of the mob and began swiftly weaving his way through the streets of the city. Shortly into his path he saw another player, the same black-haired male from before, moving through the city with certainty. Ryan stuck to the shadows, tailing the player until he disappeared through one of the city's gates. The boy stepped out from his cover and sized up the monstrous door that stood before him. He took one last deep breath before moving to pass through the gate.

"Ryan!"

The boy halted and turned swiftly to face the owner of the all too familiar voice, "Sam!" His eyes were drawn to three other figures standing behind his friend, "Guys!"

The newcomer wagged his finger and smirked, "Not in here. It's Salovi now. How about you? What's your name in here?"

"Rikaz. Whaddya think?" Ryan proclaimed proudly with a hand on his waist.

Sam chuckled, "I think you need to hear the poor excuses these guys have for names."

A petite Japanese-American female stepped out from behind Sam, a rather annoyed look on her face, "They are perfectly valid names! I mean, what the hell kind of a name is 'Salovi?' It's too obnoxious. Although I suppose that fits your personality, doesn't it?"

The smugness that covered Samuel's face was only strengthened, "Oh really? Let him hear what yours is, Sakura."

The girl blushed lightly, scratching her head, "K-Kailyth."

Sam turned back to Ryan, "See? It's definitely worse than mine, right?"

Ryan smiled in amusement and released a sigh, "We'll just have to see about the others. Rick? Matthew? What're yours?"

The remaining two members stepped forward. A pair of male twins with emerald green eyes and sunlight blonde hair. The only difference between them was the direction their hair was swept; Rick's to the left, and Matthew's to the right. This also signified which side was their dominant, a detail that only Ryan ever noticed.

Rick spoke for the both of them, "I've decided to go with Rickard while Matty here has chosen to be Mikalis."

Ryan returned his gaze to his smug counterpart, "Yeah, yours is definitely the worst, Sam."

As dramatically as possible, Sam dropped to his hands and knees, "Not even one second of hesitation! You wound me, Ryan."

"Get up, drama queen. I'm not sure if you remember, but we're stuck in this world now. We need to get moving and start hunting monsters. We've already wasted enough time dawdling here. We're not the only ones who've gotten this idea either; I just saw another guy run through this gate, probably killing every mob he sees on his way to another town."

Immediately recovering and springing to his feet, Sam gave Ryan a sarcastic response, "Well then it's good we dawdled here. Means we've given time for the monsters to respawn."

Ryan instantly became short, "This is no time for your wit, Sam! We need to move _now_."

The five partied up and stood as one before the gate. Ryan took point with the twins at his left and the other two at his right. They stepped through the gate together into this world that would seek to destroy them at every turn.

Together, they challenged the Death Game.

 **Author's Note: I apologize for the extensive use of actual lines spoken in the anime. I promise that it will be far less frequent beyond chapter 2. I'm not rewriting SAO, this is very much my own story, but my characters will be in the same space as Kirito for just a little bit longer. After the first Floor Boss it will be much more original so just stick with me, okay? Thanks!**

 **P.S.: If you're coming here from Sandcastle Kingdoms, I'm not abandoning that fic. I'm just working on two at once so I don't burn myself out by working too much on a single fic.**


	3. Chapter 2

November 6th, 2022. That was the day that Sword Art Online officially launched and trapped ten thousand people into its faux realistic world. Today was December 2nd, 2022. A fifth of the game's players have been wiped out, and the first floor was still not cleared. In the town of Tolbana, Rikaz and his party gathered in one of the many parks and plazas around the city. It was an open space with only a tree, a fountain, and a few merchants peddling their wares. They stood near the fountain, discussing the events that had recently come to their attention.

"Supposedly, the first floor boss has been found," Rikaz informed his team. "There's a meeting that's being held today to discuss strategy for beating the boss, and we're gonna be there."

"What, was it an invitation thing?" Salovi inquired.

Rikaz nodded, "Since I was on my own when I was invited, I was told to bring myself and my party by that big guy with the battle axe," the boy jabbed a thumb behind himself.

"He's… huge," Kailyth exclaimed in astonishment. "Is he going to be there too?"

"More than likely, but I didn't ask. Considering how well off we are it's no surprise to me that we were invited. I mean we've been fighting together since before SAO and we know how to coordinate with each other. That's something that I think a good portion of these other players lack, and a reason why we were invited in the first place. We seem to have turned some heads our way."

Rickard gave a small chuckle, "It's a good thing we had good old Sakura to teach us Japanese. Otherwise, we'd really be on our own."

"It's a good thing we all wanted to learn it before SAO was even announced as well," Rikaz added. "Anyways, the meeting should be starting in about thirty minutes. Let's get going, yeah?"

The five proceeded to make their way to the location of the boss meeting. A fair number of players were already there, chatting amongst themselves. The party settled at the bottom of the stone bleachers in the medieval auditorium and waited for the meeting to start. It didn't take too long. In fact, they made it just in time.

A man in a blue tunic and bronze armor clapped his hands together a couple of times, "Alright, listen up! I'll be starting the conference now!"

Everyone in the bleachers settled down and gave the man the silence he needed to speak, "Thank you, everyone, for accepting my invitation. My name is Diabel, and the class I've chosen, informally, is Knight!

There was unanimous laughter from the crowd. One player decided to tease the man, "There's no class system, you know!"

Diabel raised his voice a bit to regain the attention of the crowd, "Okay, okay, do you want to hear what I have to say or not?"

The crowd silenced itself again, ready to hear what the Knight would say, "Today, on the highest level of this floor's dungeon, my party found the boss room!"

The crowd, excluding Rikaz's party, were surprised by the information. Previously it had only been hearsay, but hearing it from the source made them believe it.

Diabel continued, "By defeating the floor boss and reaching the second floor, we'll be able to show everyone that this death game can be cleared! As the most capable, it's our responsibility to do so! Do you all not agree?"

For a few moments the players began looking at each other, contemplating the burden they'd just been shouldered. Rikaz broke the silence, giving a round of applause for the self proclaimed Knight. The rest of the players followed suit, and some whistled in cheer.

The Knight gave a small sigh, "Okay. Now, I'd like to begin discussing our battle strategy. To begin, we're going to split up into parties of six. The floor boss can't be defeated with simple parties. We'll need to assemble multiple parties to form a raid group!"

Salovi turned to his leader, "Do you think we should take on a sixth, Ryan? It might be good to have another body, but they'd be a total stranger. They might ruin our synergy."

Rikaz simply nodded, and observed the players around him. In moments, his gaze was locked to one player much further away from the rest. It was the male with onyx hair that Rikaz had seen on the first day. He had a good feeling about that one, but he had moved to another player and partied with them already. The other one was cloaked, but Rikaz could clearly see their weapon was a rapier.

The leader returned his gaze to his party, "We will not take a sixth."

Diabel's voice sounded again, "Alright! Everyone seems partied up. Now-"

"Hold it!"

The Knight was interrupted by an unknown player. He hopped down the bleachers and stood himself near Diabel, "The name's Kibaou. There's something that I've got to get off my chest."

The man had incredibly short, spiked orange hair and wore light padded leather armor. Kibaou turned towards the gathered players, "I know for a fact that there are some of you here who should be apologizing for the players who've died so far."

Rikaz narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow. Diabel took a step towards the newcomer, "Kibou, you're referring to the players who were beta testers, aren't you?"

"You're damn right I am! On the day this shitty game started, all of the beta testers just up and disappeared, abandoning all of us beginners. They practically took control of the best hunting grounds and profitable quests, prioritizing themselves over everyone else. Then, they had the gall to deny that they did so!" Kibaou turned back towards the gathered players, "I know some of you are beta testers! You all should kneel in apology and give us the money and items you've been hoarding! I cannot, and will not, entrust my life to such people!"

Most of the players were now confused as to what they should do. Rikaz, however, was not. He admitted to himself that Kibaou had a point, but his solution was way off base. The boy began to move to confront Kibaou.

"Mind if I say something?"

Rikaz snapped his head to find the source of the voice. It was one he'd heard before; deep, masculine, and it kind of intimidated Rikaz. He found the source to be the huge man with the battle axe from earlier. The bald, dark-skinned warrior rose and made his way down to Kibaou.

"My name is Agil. Kibaou, essentially what you're saying is that the beta testers are responsible for the deaths of everyone in this game so far and should apologize and reimburse us because they didn't look after us new players. Is that right?"

Kibaou stuttered for a moment, "Well… yeah."

Agil then moved to reach for something in his pocket. What he retrieved was a small booklet, and showed it to Kibaou, "This is the guidebook. I assume you have one too? It was free at the item shop."

"I do. So what?" he retorted.

"The people who wrote these were former beta testers." Rikaz raised a brow, intrigued.

Agil turned back to the rest of the gathered players, "Listen, this information was accessible by everyone and yet people still died. I thought what we were doing here was planning how to fight the boss and kill it so that those deaths don't amount to nothing."

The huge man turned back around and eyed Kibaou. The ginger gave Agil an unsatisfied glare and then conceded, sitting himself on the stone bleachers. Agil did the same.

"Alright, may I continue?" Diabel exhaled. He then retrieved his own copy of the beta tester guidebook, "About the boss; the truth is, the guidebook that was just mentioned had information added to it recently. According to this, the boss is named Illfang the Kobold Lord. He also has mobs called Ruin Kobold Sentinels guarding him. The weapons he possesses are an axe and buckler but when his last health bar goes red, he switches to a curved sword called a talwar." Diabel shut the book, "That will be all for the boss. Lastly, I want to talk about loot distribution. Any money gained is kept. The experience will go to the party that lands the final hit on the boss. Items will get to be kept by whoever obtains them. Any objections?"

There were none.

"Okay, we'll leave at ten in the morning tomorrow. You are dismissed!"

Everyone stood and made their way out of the auditorium. As RIkaz and his party left, the leader turned to his companions and began to walk backwards as he spoke, "We should do some last-minute training just so that we make sure we're ready for the fight tomorrow. Let's go out to the plains and do some sparring."

"Oh, come on," Salovi complained. "We spar every day. In fact, we already did today. Why are we doing it a second time?"

"Quit your complaining. You're just mad that you always lose," Kailyth interjected.

"To Ryan, yeah. But so do the rest of you," Salovi retorted.

"That's not the point," the girl explained. "If we ease up now, it could cost someone their life. That life could be one of ours."

Rickard reinforced Kailyth's statement, "She speaks the truth. It would be laughable if one of us were to die now. Just because we're exceptional doesn't mean we are immune to death. We should always strive to be at our peak performance, or we'll never make it through this death game."

"I'll second that," Rikaz turned back to Salovi, "Come on. Just for an hour or so?" Salovi grumbled. "Okay, how about this; we have a duel right here and the winner determines what we do tonight. How does that sound?"

"Ugh, fine. Don't expect me to go down easy. Don't expect me to go down at all."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Rikaz initiated the duel and the pair stood a fair distance away from each other. For extra challenge and the sake of time, they agreed to a one-hit duel. An unintentional crowd had gathered to observe this impromptu fight. Salovi lifted his low tail of swirling brown and blonde hair into a tail higher on his head. Retrieving his spear from his back, he stood based and prepared for the fight. Rikaz had an unorthodox fighting style; he owned a sword, but he forewent using it. Instead, he fought with his hands and feet as a martial artist. He had no unique skills in the game for fistfighting yet, but his lifelong training under his mother proved beneficial. Though this was a world of weapons, he refused to forsake or forget all that he had learned. In this world, it was all he had of his family.

3\. 2. 1. FIGHT.

Neither combatant hesitated for even a second after the timer finished. Each boy charged straight at each other, not a hint of fear in their eyes. Salovi made the first move, powerfully thrusting directly at where Rikaz's heart would have been. The pugilist palmed the pole swiftly to his right and used his momentum to initiate a powerful roundhouse kick destined for Salovi's head. The lancer noticed the attack immediately and dropped to a kneel, letting the kick soar over him. As he rose, Salovi spun around and brought the pole of his weapon into a position where the blade of his spear was leveled flawlessly with Rikaz's neck. The swiftness of the attack surprised the pugilist , who had barely enough time to backstep enough for the tip of the spear to just narrowly miss his throat. With no pause in motion, Salovi brought his weapon back around for another thrust. Rikaz countered it with a technique that he would not have been able to perform outside of this world; he palmed the spear down into the ground and, as he did, he flipped over his head and landed his legs in a dropkick that caused Salovi to be launched back several meters. The duel ended in Rikaz's victory.

There was a round of applause from the small crowd and a few whistling cheers. Rikaz helped Salovi to his feet and placed a hand on his shoulder, "That was really close. You've gotten much better these past couple of weeks."

The lancer sighed, "I guess this means we're doing more sparring, right?"

Rikaz shook his head, "No. You've proven your ability. Let's relax for today, alright?"

Salovi felt a wave of relief rush through his body, "Thank God."

Unbeknownst to them, Diabel was observing their duel. He emerged from the crowd as it dispersed and called out to them, "That was the quickest duel I've ever seen, not to mention the only time I've ever witnessed anyone use martial arts in this game, but I had heard some gossip about you. You've got skill, and you've got guts. We're gonna need that for the fight tomorrow."

Rikaz smirked at him, "I'm still gonna have it, don't you worry. So long as no one does anything stupid, this fight will easily be won with no casualties."

The knight nodded his head, "Hopefully. I'm sure everyone will do fine, I'm just worried about whether or not the boss will do something unexpected. Everyone is instinctively afraid of the unknown after all."

"Look, I get it; you're the leader and you're concerned about the lives you're putting in harm's way, including your own. I'm not afraid of anything that might happen because I know I have good people watching my back." Rikaz glanced back at his party for a moment and then turned back to Diabel, "Don't worry so much. That's bound to kill you before anything else does."

Diabel nodded, "You're right. I suppose the pressure's just getting to me. I'm hosting a kind of 'good luck' party tonight for everyone who's going to fight the boss. Will you be joining us?"

Rikaz looked to his party for confirmation, and they all nodded in agreement. The pugilist turned back to the knight, "It seems that way."

The knight nodded his head, "See you guys soon then." He waved and walked away.

"A party, huh? Seems more like a last meal to me," Salovi inferred. "You don't really think that we're going to make it out with no deaths, do you Ryan?"

The party leader simply shook his head solemnly, "No. The possibility for none is definitely there, but I don't think that will be what comes to pass. There's always at least one."

"Should we check the local armorer and weaponsmith?" Kailyth inquired. "Couldn't hurt to see if they've got anything better than what we have."

"A sound course of action. Making sure we have the best equipment possible will be essential to our survival," Rickard stated in agreement.

Rikaz nodded and turned to Mikalis, "Matthew?"

The twin simply nodded his head in agreement.

"Okay. I'd be surprised if the shops have anything better than what we've already got. Quest rewards and monster drops tend to be better than shop gear. Unless it's made by a player, that is."

The party set off to fully prepare themselves for the fight ahead. Despite all that they had going for them Rikaz couldn't help but feel that something would go wrong, and his intuition was rarely, if ever, wrong.

 **Author's Note: Okay, I know I said chapter 2 was going to be the last of me heavily pulling stuff from the anime, but I really didn't want this chapter to drag on for too long. I can guarantee that chapter 3 will be the last of me pulling whole scenes from the show. See you guys in the next one!**

 **Please don't hurt me.**


	4. Chapter 3

Rikaz and his party stood with the rest of parties that made up their raid group at the floor one boss door. He didn't even have to look at any of them to sense that they were all afraid, but not just of their own death. The pugilist was afraid as well; afraid of what might happen to his friends. He cared nothing for his own safety, and he believed that if he died here that he would deserve it for dragging his friends into hell with him. There was some light chatter among some of the parties, but most were in silent preparation of probable death. Rikaz had his eyes locked with the ground for a good time, but noticed some movement from Diabel and turned his gaze to the knight. The raid leader simply nodded at Rikaz, and the pugilist returned the gesture.

Diabel tapped his sword on the ground once to get the attention of the players gathered there, "I have only one thing to say before we do this: let's win."

Nods and murmurs of agreement waded throughout the raid group. The knight turned and opened the boss room's door, gazing upon a dark corridor for a few moments before taking the first steps. On the far side, the players could see the crimson light of Illfang's eyes. Not long after the group had entered, the walls lit up in brilliant colors that bounced off of the floors and allowed the raid to see clearly. Illfang leapt from his throne and landed nearer to the center of the columned hall. With a fierce roar of battle, Kobold Sentinels spawned around the boss and together they charged the players.

"Commence the attack!" Diabel commanded. The rest of the raid group charged straight at their enemies with the determination to destroy this foe. Rikaz and his party were right up there at the front just behind Kibaou, who had extended passed the rest of the front line. He engaged the first Sentinel, and Rikaz's party clashed with a few more. Salovi simply batted his monster's weapon away and impaled it on his spear. Kailyth swiftly evaded her Kobold's strike and plunged her dagger deep into its jugular. Mikalis and Rickard tag teamed theirs with hand-axe and greatsword, respectively, with the latter halting it with a thrust that pushed through to the other side of the Kobold's body, and the former lodging his axe into its head and ripping it out with a bash from his buckler.

Rikaz forwent even attacking the Sentinel that came for him. He drew his sword and, instead of using it as a weapon, thrust into the ground and used it as a stepping stone to vault himself over the Kobold, leaving it to be decimated by the players behind him. His party caught up with him and Salovi decided to tease his leader, "You're just too cool to fight adds, huh?"

"We can't afford to waste our time on them. The boss is getting our full attention, let the rest of the groups deal with the small guys. We've got our roles, and they have theirs, remember?"

"You have always hated deviating from the plan, haven't you?" Rickard chimed in. "Very well. Let's slaughter this boss and be done with it!"

"Don't worry guys. If any new ones spawn, I'll keep them off your back!" Kailyth reassured them.

The boys nodded at her and engaged Illfang, hitting him with everything they had. Kailyth swiftly and efficiently dealt with every Sentinel she saw, never letting one get away. Occasionally, the twins would intercept strikes from the boss that would have gone through the defenses of another party. Salovi pinpointed the most vulnerable points and struck at them while Rikaz pummeled the boss relentlessly with fists and feet. They continued like this supported by the rest of the raid group, and with the occasional player retreating for a quick heal, until the last health bar of the boss finally turned red. Illfang sent out a shockwave, knocking everyone back so that he could switch weapons.

Suddenly, Diabel charged forward from his command position, "Stay back, I'll handle it!"

Rikaz retreated into his thoughts for a moment, _What the hell is he doing?! We were supposed to_ _surround it!_

The monstrous kobold discarded his weapons and equipped his secondary armament.

 _Wait_ , Rikaz thought. _That sword's not curved… whatever that is, it's not a talwar!_

"No!" someone shouted. The pugilist searched for the source of the voice and found it to be that same onyx haired player from the meeting. "Get back as fast as you can!"

Diabel did not hear this warning, however, and charged the boss. Before he could reach it, the monster swiftly leapt between the pillars that surrounded him. With no time for Diabel to react, Illfang slashed through the knight once causing him to be launched into the air and was struck again, slamming back into the ground behind the raid group. Rikaz saw the onyx haired player rush to the knight's side, retrieving a potion from his satchel.

Believing Diabel to be saved, the pugilist returned his attention to Illfang. The boss was about to strike at Kibaou and another player next to him, and they raised their weapons to absorb some of the damage. Rikaz dashed towards them and halted the weapon's path between his palms and threw it off to the side.

"Don't lose focus now! We still have a boss to kill; keep fighting!"

The pair nodded and refocused on fighting the boss though, due to the unnatural speed and agility it had gained, the raid group was having difficulty ending the fight. Rikaz tried to intercept another slash from the boss but it struck both him and Kibaou, launching them back. The pugilist recovered swiftly, drinking a potion and moving to rejoin the fight. Kibaou was still on the ground, and his eyes landed on the onyx haired player kneeling over Diabel. Then, to the despair of the warrior, he saw the knight shatter into those bright blue-green prisms that signified death.

Rikaz heard the sound and halted, snapping his head back towards where Diabel was. He knew someone would die that day, but the raid leader himself? The one who ignited the spark of hope in these players? No. Everything seemed to stop around him for a moment as the terror sinked in. He saw the onyx haired player rise and turn back towards the boss. Rikaz did the same and observed the disarray that the raid group was in, seemingly only held together by the skill of his own party. He furrowed his brow and clenched his fists. He would not let another player die here today.

The onyx haired player seemed to have the same thought, and Rikaz felt the rush of wind as they and their cloaked companion charged passed him to the boss. The other players moved out of their way for fear of being trampled, and the pugilist watched in awe as the pair switched in and out of attacking position, parrying and striking the boss in a display of fighting chemistry that he had only ever seen his own party pull off. He also guessed that these players were strangers to each other before this fight, which made the display even more impressive.

Though, natural as they were, the cloaked one misjudged and was fortunate enough that only their cloak was shredded by the boss's strike. The destruction of the cloak revealed a female with waist-long orange hair not unlike Rikaz's, but the pugilist's color was a much more intense and fiery orange than the girl's mild ginger locks. She recovered from the boss's strike and retaliated with one of her own, knocking the boss back. The onyx haired swordsman reengaged the boss, trading multiple blows with it before making a misjudgement of his own. He was slammed back into his companion, stunning them both.

The boss reached them before they could recover and was going to end them then and there. Before Illfang could kill them, Agil parried the boss with his battle axe. Rikaz seized this moment, "Everyone, go!"

The pugilist charged past Agil towards the boss, and the rest of the raid group gathered their senses and followed his lead, charging the boss with a renewed determination.

"We'll hold him off until you're back on your feet!" Agil assured the pair. He rejoined the rest of the raid group and aided them in holding off the boss. Illfang refused to die, and in one swift motion knocked down all of the players that surrounded him and leapt into the air. He was coming down like a meteor, but before he could reach the players the onyx haired swordsman intercepted him and slammed him back down into the ground, away from the rest of the group.

The swordsman wasted no time, and with his companion charged the boss once again for a final attack. They weaved between each other in another impressive display of combat chemistry. The swordsman came in for the final strike, slashing up through the entirety of the boss with a battle cry Rikaz had never heard the likes of before. Illfang emanated a dazzling blue light before exploding into those blue-green prisms.

There was silence for a few moments, allowing the victory to sink in for all of the players that remained, before one player exclaimed his excitement, "We did it!"

The rest of the players followed suit in applause and cheer for their hard-fought victory. Rikaz and his party rushed to each other for a group hug and jumped up and down in excitement. The celebration was cut short, however, by Kibaou.

"Why?!"

Everyone stopped and looked at the distraught warrior. He directed his question at the onyx haired swordsman, "Why did you let Diabel die?"

"Let him die?"

"Yes, asshole! You knew the attack the boss used! If you'd told us about it before we went in, Diabel would still be here!"

There was discontent among the players. With this revelation they didn't know what to think or to feel, but one of the players that stood by Kibaou did, "He has to be a beta tester! That's got to be how he knew the boss's attacks. He knew, but didn't tell us! Others are here too, right? Show yourselves!"

Rikaz turned to his party, "Don't listen to him. Don't let him turn you against the others here."

Seeds of distrust were being planted in many of the players. They murmured among themselves in an attempt to find out who else may have been a beta tester. Agil and the ginger swordswoman went to Kibaou in an attempt to calm him, but before they could say anything the onyx haired swordsman began to laugh maniacally. This act disturbed the other players but just confused Rikaz's party instead.

"A beta tester, huh?" he began. "Don't compare me to those imbeciles."

"What?!"

The swordsman walked passed the rest of the players as he continued, "Most, if not all, if the thousand beta testers were beginners who couldn't even figure out how to level up. You're all better than them. But I'm not like them in the slightest. I made it further than anyone else during the beta test. The reason I knew the boss's attacks is because I fought monsters with similar skills on much higher floors. I know more, far more, than any information broker you could find."

Kibaou was in shock, "That's… that's way worse than a beta tester! You're a goddamned cheater!"

The rest of the players started rioting. One voice could be heard slightly above the rest, "A beta tester and a cheater? He's a beater!"

The swordsman chuckled, "Beater, huh? I like it." With that, all of the players instantly silenced, "Alright, I'm a beater. Just don't confuse me with the rest of the beta testers, got it?"

As he said this he equipped an item he obtained from the boss; a long black coat that draped down to his shins. He gave one last smug smirk to the players and walked off. He was ascending the stairs that led to the next floor, but was stopped by his companion. They were out of earshot for Rikaz and his party, however.

Salovi turned to his leader, "That guy was badass!"

Rikaz lightly sighed, "Do you realize what he just did? He just took the fall for every single beta tester. The hate for a thousand people on the shoulders of one guy. He's a good person, choosing to be the villain in the eyes of all these people."

"He's made himself a damned martyr is what he's done," Agil interjected. "That was stupid of him."

"But very noble," Rikaz added. "If everyone was worried about themselves, we wouldn't have just killed this boss today."

"I guess you're right, in a way," Agil conceded. "We'd better inform those still on the first floor about what's been accomplished here."

The pugilist shook his head, "No. My party and I are going to move on to the second floor. We can't afford to waste time chatting." Rikaz looked towards the staircase and found that the black swordsman was gone, and his former companion rejoining the rest of the players. He turned back to Agil, "You can take care of the public relations."

Rikaz and his party left for the second floor. As they rose the steps, Rickard voiced a concern of his, "Are you certain that it is wise to turn our backs on him? It is always a boon to have allies, especially ones that are of exceptional skill."

"The only allies we need are each other," Rikaz established. "There's five of us and, if things are as they should be, we'll always be at each other's side." The pugilist paused for a moment, "Just like we have been for all of our lives."

 **Author's Note: FINALLY! I'M DONE USING SOURCE MATERIAL (maybe. For now at least. Perhaps in the future I'll do some little things.) It should be all original content from here. These chapters might take longer to come out, however, due to extra world research I'll have to do based on where I want my characters to end up in each chapter. I am very excited to tell this story, though, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it. See you in the next chapter!**


	5. Chapter4

The party stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking Aincrad's second floor. They saw a wide open savannah and a massive city that seemingly rose out of the ground around it. They saw many tabletop mountains all across the floor as far as they could see, and herds of ox and bull monsters migrating across the plains. Rikaz thought he caught something peculiar; an absurdly tall peaked mountain at the south end of the floor.

"Let's move," he commanded his party. He began to make his way down a spiraling staircase that sat within the mountainside. During their descent, weak bird monsters made diving passes at them frequently. Any single one never did so twice. After a time they made it safely to ground level and began their trek across the plains to the city in the crater. Very few words were spoken by the party between the first floor entrance and the city, as there really weren't many to say besides ones that admired the landscape.

On their way, a few predator beasts came between them and their destination. None lasted long, not even the herds that challenged their superiority. The emptiness of the area was surreal to Rikaz, even considering the fact that they were likely some the only players on the second floor at that moment. It made him feel uneasy, small, in a world that he felt he should have some control over.

As they came upon the city's main gate, they observed two sentries at either end. They stood tall, proud, and unmoving. Neither reacted to the party, not even a nod to acknowledge their presence. They moved into the city, and found it to be surprisingly busy despite it being only filled with NPC's at this point.

"Welcome to Urbus!" greeted a stall owner NPC.

Rikaz gave a reactionary nod, and the party continued through the bustling streets of Urbus. They found their way to an inn, and decided to settle there for the rest of the day due to the sun being on its way down.

The party leader had taken note of the architectural makeup of the city. There were no alleyways in between the buildings, a problem for the sake of time and possible routes of escape should he ever find himself in a poor situation. The party had to be split between two different rooms at the inn; Salovi and Rikaz shared one room while the twins and Kailyth shared the second.

"You okay Ryan? You've got that look again."

Rikaz turned to Salovi and raised a brow, "Do I? Sorry, I'm just concerned about this floor. Since the completion of floor one, I think people are going to get far more bold since we killed the boss, and get themselves killed fighting things too strong for them."

Salovi sighed in frustration, "Jeez, man. You can't be worrying about the problems of everyone else all the time. That's gonna get you killed one day, and I don't want to lose you. You're the only one of us capable of shouldering the responsibility of leading us to the end of this game. You're the one who brought us together despite ourselves."

"Look, I get it, but I'm not worried about everyone else. I'm worried about us. What could happen to us. To you guys. It's my fault you're here and now it's my responsibility to make sure you all get out alive no matter what."

Salovi sighed again, "Dude, we've talked about this. It's better that we're here together than you be here alone. I don't know how long we're gonna be in here, but I know that I wouldn't have it any other way. None of us would. We sure as hell wouldn't want to be waiting for you on the outside praying to God every day hoping that you make it out. That would be worse than being stuck here, no question."

"If you say so. Goodnight Sam."

"Night Ryan."

The pair drifted to sleep in time, but Rikaz had an unsettling dream; he found himself in what seemed to be a dungeon, finishing off some unknown enemy with an incredibly swift and precise spin kick. Suddenly and without warning, he was attacked by a trio of silhouettes. He couldn't discern what weapons they used, for they all seemed to morph and transform in their hands. He thought he saw every shadow use every kind of weapon, and he kept on taking hits despite his exceptional skill. He felt it was the hardest fight he'd ever fought, dreaming or not. Just as a javelin was thrust at his face, the boy abruptly shot awake to break of dawn with Salovi still asleep. The pugilist rested his head in his palm, trying to find something, anything, to identify the shadows. Not their fighting styles, they were completely foreign. Not their weapons, they were always changing. Not their faces, they were nothing but shadows.

He sighed, shook his head, and swiftly slipped out of bed without disturbing Salovi. He equipped his gear; dark brown leather gloves, boots, and a jerkin with a tan linen under-tunic and tan linen leggings. Around his shoulders he wore a black hooded cloak that flowed down to his shins.

Rikaz exited his room and made his way downstairs. To his surprise, he found quite a few tables and bar seats inhabited by players. He recognized a few faces from the floor one boss fight, and a couple of them met his gaze and smiled. The boy smiled back, and took a seat at the bar.

"What can I get you?" the bartender NPC asked.

"Something mild that'll wear off quick."

"I've got just the thing. Give me a moment."

The bartender went to rummaging around his shelves. A player came up and took the seat left of Rikaz, "Good to see you made it."

The pugilist turned to face his new counterpart, and found the player to be Kibaou.

"I'm surprised that you remember me."

"Heh, kinda hard to forget the guy who catches a big-ass sword with his bare hands. Not to mention your hair really makes you stand out. I never did catch your name though; you took off kinda quick."

The pugilist extended his hand to Kibaou, "Rikaz. Pleasure to meet you Kibaou."

The warrior took his hand, "You too, kid. When did you get here? To the inn, I mean."

"Yesterday evening. The sun was setting, so my party and I just decided to stay here for the night."

The bartender brought Rikaz his drink, "You payin' for that now or puttin' it on a tab?"

"Neither, it's on me," Kibaou interjected. "And get me one of the same."

With a nod, the bartender went back to the shelves.

"Man, gotta love comprehensive AI. Makes interaction with these NPCs so easy."

Rikaz gave a short hum of agreement, "Thanks, by the way, for the drink."

"Nah, that's the least I could do. You ever need anything else, you let me know."

"There is actually something I want to ask you."

"Go for it."

"Have you noticed anything peculiar about any of the mountain peaks?"

Kibaou stroked his chin for a moment, "Not necessarily. Why?"

"There's a ridiculously tall mountain to the south that I noticed on my way to town. I'm ninety-nine percent certain there's something up there, but I have no clue what it could be. It's been bugging me, and if there's one thing I hate it's unanswered questions. Especially my own."

"Alright then, but do me a favor? Actually use a weapon this time; we've got no clue what kinds of monsters may be up there."

Rikaz giggled lightly, "Not a chance, though guy. Doesn't matter how many drinks you buy me."

"At least let me come with you. If you're not gonna take your party, that is. Better chance of survival that way."

"I don't want to have to focus on more than one person not falling down a giant mountain. Thanks for your concern though, I appreciate it."

The pugilist abruptly stood up and downed the remainder of his mug. With a satisfied sigh, he turned and made his way out of the tavern. Kibaou just shook his head, "Don't die out there, kid."

As Rikaz exited the inn he stopped in the street for a moment and looked to the east. The sun was just peeking over the city rooftops.

"Still early. Good."

The pugilist turned the opposite direction and sprinted his way through the city. He weaved between players and NPCs alike as a thread through a needle, every step deliberate and precise.

"They're probably not gonna be up for another four hours or- wha-?"

A cloaked figure abruptly materialized in Rikaz's path. The pugilist skidded to a stop just before he hit the stranger, "Sorry, excuse me."

Rikaz moved to pass the taller figure, but they simply extended their arm to block his path again. A woman's voice came from the stranger, "What's the rush for, cutie?"

Without missing a beat, Rikaz swiftly moved the woman's arm into an armlock as he flowed behind her, "No business of yours, sweetheart."

The pugilist used his foot to reap the woman's legs out from under her, causing her to fall flat on the cobblestone. With no hesitation, he departed from her and left the city.

"Asshat," the boy muttered. He could afford no interruption, as he knew he needed to gain as much strength as virtually possible if he was going to overcome this world, friends at his side or not. He would not neglect them, of course, but in order to make sure he could get them out of this world he needed to seek out any source of power he could find. The summit he observed upon entering the second floor held secrets he knew were there, and he desired to learn them as soon as he could no matter what they were.

Come half an hour later Rikaz stood at the base of the mountain, sizing up the next leg of his journey. It was daunting, to be sure, but he would not be swayed. He turned to the sky once more, analyzing the sun's position in the sky. It had not moved much, but the entirety of the virtual world's fireball could be seen now.

The boy's ascension was unimpeded by enemies, to his slight disappointment, but there were no shortage of precarious jumps and intimidating rock climbs, and more than once he almost took a fatal fall that would have brought him to a premature end. Despite its lack of focus in his daily regiment rock climbing and urban gymnastics were not skills lost on Ryan over the course of his short life, and at this particular moment in time he was very thankful for it.

When the pugilist arrived at the peak, he bore witness to something very strange; a lone hut, an old man, and a boulder. Rikaz approached the man warily, expecting a trap of some kind.

"Excuse me sir?"

The old man turned to Rikaz with a knowing smile, "Ah, an intrepid traveler finds his way to my sanctuary."

Rikaz gave the man a curious look, "Is this your home?"

"Indeed it is. Tell me, would you be interested in learning a skill?"

"What kind of skill?" Rikaz interrogated with caution.

"Martial arts. How about it, traveler?"

The pugilists eyes lit up in excitement and adopted a childish glee that he rarely displayed, "Absolutely. Tell me what I need to do and I'll get it done."

The old man smiled once again, "Very well. In that case-," the man turned into a blur and afterwards returned to his original position, "-you'll need that."

Rikaz felt the aftereffects on his cheeks; three distinct lines on both sides. He raised a hand to feel what it was, but felt nothing out of the ordinary.

"What did you do?"

The old man chortled, "I applied some quick-dry face paint to you. You will not be able to remove it until you complete the task that I assign you."

"Which is?" Rikaz demanded, perturbed at the man's actions.

"You must break that boulder in half with your bare hands. A simple task, yes?"

The pugilist eyed the boulder behind the man. Simple? Yes. Easy? No. It stood about twice as tall as Rikaz and was about ten times as wide. Strange, he thought. He could've sworn it was a bit smaller.

"Now, show me what you can do," the man ordered.

Rikaz was more than happy to oblige despite the absurd task set before him. He approached the boulder and positioned himself less than a meter away. He based his legs into his traditional fighting stance; left leg front, right leg back, and his hands in the same respective positions with his left hand open and his right hand balled into a fist. Rikaz inhaled deeply, held it, and exhaled harshly as he propelled his right fist toward the boulder. There was rather loud impact, and the force was palpable, but the boulder remained unfazed by the pugilist's attempt.

The boy grinned devilishly, now understanding exactly why this was the sole objective of the quest. The fantasy was plain as the floor's unrestricted day; a solitary monk on the peak of a mountain taking on a student to pass his knowledge to and giving him a seemingly ridiculous task in order to receive it. Rikaz loved it. He rebased himself, inhaled, then exhaled with a palm strike from his left hand, then a punch from his right, then a chop from his left, then a side kick with his left leg, then another side kick with his right leg. He continued to pummel the boulder like this refusing to cease his flurry until it was broken. Three three hours of his flowing combo passed with seemingly no progress until Rikaz flipped himself forward into an axe kick on the dead center of the boulder. A loud crack escaped the boulder as the boy's heel met with it, splitting it clean in half.

Rikaz halted all action, and gazed upon his handiwork. Deep, heavy breaths passed through his digital lungs and for a time there was just the serenity of silence on that peak. The only thing that broke the quiet was the old man, who chuckled heartily and applauded Rikaz.

"Well done, traveler, well done! As promised, I will give to you the skill of Martial Arts."

The old man raised his palm towards Rikaz, and a faint glow enveloped both. After a few seconds, the words 'Extra Skill: Martial Arts obtained!' appeared.

"Your body has now become a weapon. It will be able to stand against even the strongest blades, but remember: you must train your body respectively to the strength of others. Diligence is the key to mastery."

Rikaz bowed in thanks to the NPC, despite the futility of the gesture, and prepared a teleport crystal. No way was he going to climb down the mountain after this.

"Teleport: Urbus!"

 **Author's note: Well god-diddly-damn it's been an eternity, but I'm back in the game now (no pun intended). You know I did have this grand goal for this fic where I wanted to have it caught up to the anime by the time the rest of Alicization began to roll around, but that's way past being possible at this point. I just lost the motivation to write for these last, what, 6? 7 months? I don't even know. But for those who still care, I'm back, and for those who are still reading, thanks.**


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